The family of a special needs girl who fell over in her wheelchair while on a Fulton County school bus is suing the district.
April Moore told Channel 2 Action News that her daughter, 16-year-old Jonay Owens, cut her face when she fell last September.
The bus was taking her home from Creekside High School.
Surveillance video from the bus shows three minutes passed before either the bus monitor or driver came to check on the student.
Owens couldn’t call for help because she’s nonverbal, her mother said. She’s also blind and has cerebral palsy, Channel 2 reported.
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“Seeing my daughter laying there on the floor, with no one coming to her rescue, I was very disgusted when I saw the tape,” Moore said.
The family’s attorney, Minkah Merritt of the Merritt & Merritt Law Firm, said staff didn’t properly secure Owens in her seat.
He presumes the bus monitor wasn’t paying attention when seen on video looking at something Merritt believes to be a cellphone.
The suit seeks $14 million from the district in injury and punitive damages, but Moore told Channel 2 she just wants to warn other parents.
“I would just like to bring awareness to everyone who has kids riding a school bus,” Moore said.
Susan Hale, a spokeswoman for Fulton County Schools, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she could not comment on pending litigation.
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